Using as a central instrument a new database, resulting from a compilation of historical administrative records, which covers the period 1974-2010, we can have new evidence on how industrial companies used tax benefits, and claim that these are decisive for the investment decision of the Uruguayan industrial companies during that period. The aforementioned findings served as a raw material to also affirm that the incentives to increase investment are factors that positively influence the level of economic activity and exports, and negatively on the unemployment rate.